Hanley Dawson Jr., 80

Had Auto Empire In '70s

Hanley Dawson Jr., whose downtown Cadillac dealership was the largest in the country in the 1970s, died Sunday in his Gold Coast home from complications associated with Parkinson's disease. He was 80.

At the height of his car dealership empire, Mr. Dawson had eight franchises in two major buildings downtown, selling Cadillacs, Mitsubishis, Chryslers, Subarus, Saabs, Toyotas, Nissans, Pontiacs and Isuzus. For many, he was considered the king of Cadillac dealers.

"In one month, they would sell 1,000 cars," said Douglas Ekman, Dawson's former advertising executive. "In the '70s, he would have a sale and sell 200 cars in three days. Now the top guy sells 75 in one month."

"The man was a legend," said Joe Perillo of Perillo Lincoln-Mercury/BMW/Saab, one of several dealers such as Max Madsen who got their starts as salesmen for Mr. Dawson. "He was like a role model to me. I don't believe I would be where I am today if it weren't for Hanley."

Business declined for Mr. Dawson in the 1980s, and he filed for protection from creditors under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code in 1989.

It later emerged that in 1988 he had engaged in check fraud to cover the dealerships' financial problems. He pleaded guilty in federal court to check-kiting in 1996 and was spared a prison sentence because of his declining health.

But while he was king, he pioneered new sales approaches.

"He was the first to blitzkrieg radio," Ekman said. "He would buy literally every station in the market--12 or 14 stations--and would have a commercial every half-hour. You couldn't get away from it."

He was one of the first Cadillac dealers to let buyers drive a car home instead of ordering one that would be delivered in a few weeks, Ekman said.

"That was part of the mystique of Cadillacs, but the buyers didn't like it," Ekman said.

"His father had literally been hired by Henry Ford to be the first used-car dealer in America in the teens," Ekman said.

The Dawsons eventually sold new and used Fords and Chevrolets in Detroit before Mr. Dawson moved to Chicago and opened his dealerships at 630 N. Rush St. and 150 W. Ontario St. He also had a Cadillac-Isuzu dealership in Davenport, Iowa.

Planet Hollywood and The Sports Authority now occupy the sites where Dawson's dealerships stood until 1989.

Mr. Dawson was an avid horse fan who bought and raced Standardbreds in Breeder's Cup races.

He is survived by his wife, Joyce, four children, and four grandchildren. Services were private.